Feb 4, 2009

So I Think These Are The Rules...

5 comments:

Rule #4 gets about 97% of the military in trouble. Not sure what this "no politics" business is all about. Must be derived from the DoD rules that you can't make the military look like it endorses something political, but clearly blogs are the individual's opinion. Hmm...seems rather restrictive. Are these orders published by the A-stan CG, or is it a Dept. of Army instruction?

Don’t get me wrong I understand the need for rules, but guess what? I am an American. I live in a country where people are fighting for my rights. So I shall exercise them now.

You have got to be kidding me?!!?! Let us put a little perspective on these rules, directives, or guidance:• I understand the first 3, I would refer to them as the Geraldo rules. Soldiers are in enough danger as it is, let’s not add to it. • #5 what could one possibly gain from discussing the day to day suck? I do not think there are many ways to profit from describing the “smell of burning your own s#it.” Are there many soldiers running e-bay auctions? Brand new French firearm, never fired, dropped once. • #6, do not express political beliefs or opinions? I think most of us can say that everything that occurs in the world is political. This is especially true when it comes to the military. Are we not attempting to liberate two countries to allow for democracy and the freedoms that comes with it? • #7, All comments should be submitted in triplicate to the redundant department of redundancy department. • I know that I skipped #4 for a reason. Here are my issues with this one:o War is about as profane as you can get. o Belittling comments are almost a requirement. The only impact I can think of here is that the mental health lobby has gotten to someone in government. As far as I can tell the main reason most of the guys who blog is for sanity reasons. I cannot imagine attempting to get my head around some of the items that have to be dealt with over in Afghanistan or Iraq. If it helps even a little to get some things off his/her chest by all means do so. o Constructive, intellectual criticism and debate is encouraged? Seriously? I am sure there are a large number of enlisted men/women that are jumping up and down to “assist” officers with any of these three items. Even in the civilian world bosses do not want to hear anything helpful, the way they are doing things is the “right” way. Note, I would have used the word “superior” instead of bosses but we all know that word does not apply to the majority of these people.  Maybe I am stereotyping but aren’t officers the only ones that could even come up with intellectual comments? --sarcasm implied-- Note this is not applicable to all officers. Debate is encouraged? Only when everyone is in agreement on the issues. When a disagreement occurs please see rank on shoulder for your opinion.  Webster’s defines criticism as: 1 a: the act of criticizing usually unfavorably (seeking encouragement rather than criticism) b: a critical observation or remark (an unfair criticism) c: CRITIQUE. Does this not go against the word constructive?

I realize that we are talking about the military. I would never say anything disparaging against our military. I support the men and women who defend my right to respond to this. I love my country and I am more patriotic than most people I know with the exception of any soldier serving. However knowing what I know and have heard about the military bureaucracy it deserves making fun of. How does one point out the fact that it takes 24 hours of entering and exiting Qatar without sounding like a smart@$$?

Again I realize that some of the rights that soldiers are fighting for do not extend to themselves but come on. This might be the only protest that I am ever involved in. Imagine me walking in a circle in my living room with a sign, “Let them vent, Let them vent”. Anything that leads to a little bit of sanity should be encouraged. I mean sweeping a dirt floor to tidy up the dirt is ridiculous and requires mocking.

For what it’s worth, say what you have to say, do what you have to do. If you cannot, call me any time day or night and I will listen to your venting. This blog is my only information to the world of a soldier. I support it completely. While I have never met Mud Puppy, I feel as if he is my friend. I do not have many friends so this is saying something. I look forward to hearing from Mud every day. It makes me feel better that someone out there cares, plus I know that he is alright.

I will write my congressman if needed. Of course living in Illinois there is no telling who that might be from one day to the next.

Note to any and all governmental agencies reading my comments: just kidding. Something tells me my name just got moved to the top any potential future draft.